Continuous unwinding device for webs



Nov. 27, 1956 E. H. KLINGELFUSS CONTINUOUS UNWINDING DEVICE FOR WEBSFiled Dec. 1, 1953 5/24 ig/m ATTORNEYS United States Patent CONTINUOUSUNWINDING DEVICE FGR WEBS Eugene H. Klingelfuss, Brooklyn, N. Y.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Type Founders (10., Inc.,Elizabeth, N. 1., a corporation of Delaware Application December 1,1953, Serial No. 395,439

6 Claims. (Cl. 242-58) This invention relates to the handling of webs ofsheet material and is directed more particularly to a device forsupplying to a given source a substantially continuous web of suchmaterial. While the device is primarily intended for use in supplyingpaper to high speed newspaper or gravure presses, and will be describedin this connection, it will be appreciated that the invention is capableof more universal application in the handling of a wide variety of webmaterial.

With the introduction of high speed printing machines to the printingart, the feeding of paper to these machines became a problem ofconsiderable concern to the Workers in the art. Although the rolls inwhich the paper is ordinarily supplied are quite large, at the speeds atwhich the modern presses are capable of operating, the supply becomesexhausted within a matter of minutes. The stoppage of the presses torenew the paper supply results in the loss of several minutes ofprinting time as Well as the loss of a substantial amount of paper dueto the fact that the type becomes over-inked and does not immediatelyregain its optimum printing condition. Thus, it is highly desirable thatthe paper be supplied to the presses in as continuous a fashion as it ispractical to do so.

Several attempts have been made to accomplish this desideratum, foremostamong which is the use of turret supply mechanisms in which two or morerolls of paper are mounted on a rotatable turret, the reserve roll beingautomatically moved to replacement position, accelerated to runningspeed, and the web carried thereby joined to the moving end of theexhausting web. While such mechanisms are generally satisfactory intheir operation, they must be of considerable complexity in order toperform the required operations and of massive construction to supportthe combined weight of the plurality of rolls. As a result, they arequite costly and can be used to advantage by only the very largest ofprinting shops.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to providea device for continuously supplying sheet material which is extremelysimple in construction and operation and can be supplied to the printingtrade at a minimum of expense.

A further object of the invention is to provide a low cost device forsupplying a web to high speed printing machines without even momentaryinterruption of the printing operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a continuous web feederwhich can be operated with ease and dispatch by persons of limitededucation and skill.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a continuous Webfeeder in which the web supply rolls are not moved bodily from oneposition to another.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention whenread with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved web feeder, partially cutaway to reveal certain details of construction;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view on a section through themachine, showing the details of the web severing means; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale of the leading endof the reserve web in change-over position showing the means whereby thereserve web is joined to the running web.

in accordance with the present invention, a pair of web supply rolls aresupported in spaced parallel relationship, one of the webs being fed toany desired source by means of cooperating feed and pressure rolls.Associated with each web is an auxiliary pair of feed rolls which arenormally maintained in non-feeding relationship but can be independentlyrendered operative to advance one Web or the other. A web feed boardextends from each of the normally non-operative feed rolls almost to thenip of the main feed roll assembly to guide the web thereto, websevering means being supported by each feed board in the neighborhood ofthe nip of the main feed roll assembly. The leading edge of the reserveweb is provided with a strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive material.When it is desired to change the flow of the web from the supply to thereserve roll, the normally non-operative auxiliary feed means for thereserve web is rendered operative, advancing the leading edge of thatweb down the feed board and through the main feed roll assembly with themoving supply web, causing the adhesive strip to adhere to the movingsupply web. The old supply web may then be severed and the old supplyweb roll, which is at this point substantially exhausted, is replaced bya new roll, which becomes the new reserve roll.

Referring now to Figure l, the numeral 11 designates a base member, onwhich is mounted a spaced pair of roll stands 12 and 12a, the upper endsof the stands carrying suitable journal means for rotatably supportingrolls of sheet material 14 and 14a. If desired, the roll stands may beprovided with means for braking the rolls in a manner well known in theart. Extending between the roll stands 12 and 12a on either side of themachine and spaced somewhat above base member 11 is a horizontal channelmember 16 which supports a pair of upstanding stanchions 17 and 17a. Ahorizontally arranged crosspiece 19 is secured at its ends to stanchions17 and 17a in order to brace the same and also serve as a support forcertain other equipment as will appear later. It is to be understoodthat there is a channel member, pair of stanchions, cross-piece andother elements on either side of the machine but to facilitate thedescription only one side of the machine will be described since bothsides, with certain obvious exceptions, are essentially duplicates.

Carried by the cross-piece l? the mid-point thereof is the main web feedarray or assembly consisting of a driven feed roll 2% and a pressureroll 21, the latter being covered with friction material, such as hardrubber or the like. The shaft of feed roll 2t is jcurnaled in a fixedbearing block 22 and the shaft of the pressure roll 21 is journaled in aslidable pillow block 23 which can be moved by means of a pressure screw24 and a handknob 25. By manual rotation of the knob 25 pressure roll 21may be accurately positioned with respect to feed roll 29 in order thatsheet material of varying thickness may be accommodated by the machineand the desired feeding pressure exerted on the web by the rolls 2:1 and22 precisely maintained.

in addition to the arrangement for precisely adjusting the rolls, it isalso desirable that pressure roll 21 be quickly and easily removablefrom feeding contact with roll 20 without changing the position ofpillow block 23. To this end, an eccentric bushing 26 is interposedbetween the shaft of pressure roll 21 and pillow block 23, being securedto the shaft and movable therewith, and a hand lever 27 is aflixed toone end of the shaft. R oll 21 is mounted for free rotation on itsshaft. Thus, by rocking lever 27 pressure roll 21 ismoved a shortdistance from feed roll 29 to permit the insertion or removal of thesh'eet'materialf"' a T Extending'in angular 'fashion' upwardly :andoutwardly from either side of the nip of rolls 2% and 21 is a feed board30, the lower end of whichissecured by a bracket 31 to a side plate 32,the latter, in turn, being supported by a bracket 33' projectingvertically from cross-piece '19. The upper end of each of the feedboards 30 terminates just short of the frame member 17 or l'ia, beingsupported thereon by abracket 34.

Located betweenthe ends of each of the feed boards 30 and the rolls 20and 21v is the'web severing means. As can be bestseen in Figure 2;thismeans consists of a longitudinal block-i0 of f rectangular section,extending across the Width of the web of sheet material, beingpenetrated by a shaft 41, the lower'surface of block 46 having afiixedthereto arknife blade 42. The ends of shaft 41 are rockably supported bythe side plates 32 and at least one of such ends is provided with a handlever 43. In order that the blades 42 might be'normally urged tononcutting position, the blocks 4% are joined by a horizontallyextending tension spring 44. It will be apparent that by rocking thelever 43, the knife blade 42 will be moved into the path of the movingweb, causing the same to be severed. r 7

It is necessary that each of the webs from the rolls14 and 14a becapable of being set in motion for short periods of time independentlyof the main feed array 2021. For this purpose there is provided at theupper end of each of the stanchions 17 and 17; a driven feed"directions'to deliver thewebs toward the center of the I roll 59 andStir: and a pressureroll 51 and 51a, respechorizontal channel member 16,and carrying at their outer" endsioot treadles 5'7 and 57a,respectively. Since the auxiliary feed arrays 5%) 51 and 5ia-51a do notcome into play except when the Web feed is being changed from one rollto the other, the pressure rolls 56a and 51a are normally maintained ininoperative or non-feeding position with respect to the feed rolls 5i)and 56a. This may be accomplished in any desired fashion, as forexample, by means of compression springs 58 and 53a bearing at one endagainst suitable seats formed on the rocker arms '55 and-55a and at theother end against the hori-' zontal web of channel member 16; Hence,pressure rolls 51 and 51a are normally urged away from feed rolls 5%)and 58a so that the feed rolls do not exert a feeding force on the webs;however, when it is desired that either of the webs be advancedindependently of the main feeding array Zip- 21, the corresponding foottreadle is depressed, overcoming the force of its compression springand, through the connecting linkage, moving one of the pressure rollsinto feeding contact with its associated feed roll. 7 Carried by each ofthe frame member 17 and 17:2' below the auxiliary feed arrays 5051 and'5iia53ia is a shaft i', about which an idler roll -61 is freelyrotatable. Elements 62 are clamped to shaft 69 at either. end of idlerroll 61 and are joined by a fixed spreader rod 63. Shaft 6% also carriesa worm gear 64, as can be seen on the left-hand side of Figure 1, whichcan be rotated by means of worm 65 and its associated handwheel 66.Rotation of worm gear 64 moves the spreader rod 63 about the axis ofshaft '60, making the path of the web between idlerroll 61 and the rod63 more or less sinuous as desired, spreading the web to its fullyextended width .and eliminating the slack which frequently occursadjacent the edges thereof.

a pressure-sensitive adhesive substance.

The driving arrangement for the variousfeeding assemblies alreadydescribed is as follows: A motor 70 rotates a small V-grooved pulleycoupled by means of a V-belt to a large V-grooved pulley 72 mounted onthe shaft of feed roll 29. This shaft also carries a second and smaller,V,-grooved pulley 73 connected by V-belt to a pulley 74, correspondingin size to that of pulley 73, afiixed to the shaft of feed roll 5011. Asecond pulley (notvisible) on this shaft drives a pulley 7 6 and a gear7 7 supported by a bracket 7 8 on frame 'member 17, the gear 7'1 meshingwith a gear 7 9 cntthe shaft of feed roll 59. The last-mentioned twopulleys are the same size as pulleys 73 and 74 and the gears'77 and 79are identical so that all, three feed rolls Zii, 50 and 50a havethe sameperipheral speed. In all cases, the V-belts are indicated in Figure l'by means of dotted lines. be seen that the feed rolls 5% and 50a rotatein opposite machine and main feed array 20'21. p

To permit the new web to be joinedto the old webin the course ofchanging over the web feed from one supply roll to the other, theleading edge of the new web is provided with a short strip coated on onesurfacewith Such material may be, and preferably is, a tape of thetypesold by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company under thebrand name Scotch.- As can be seen from Figure 3, the adhesive strip isarranged with its coated face outwardly, about one-half its length beingadhered to the under surface of the leading edge of the new web, leavingthe remainder of the web available for adhering contactwith the movingold web. Preparatory to the changeover from the old to the new web, thenew web is threaded up past idler roll 61 and spreader rod 63,betweentthe corresponding auxiliary feed array and the adhesive strip isapplied thereto. The adhesive stripand the leading edge of the new webis then placed on the upper'end of one of the feed boards 30,substantially shown in Figure 7 3, at which position it is ready tion. V

Preferably, after leaving the main feed array 2122 the web is caused tomove around a pair of steam rolls 80 for the change-over operaand 81, adancer roll 82, and idler s 83 and 84, from to the press and that theleading edge of the new web I operator releases the foot treadle androcks the handlever' thereto enters the nip of the feed and pressurerolls 20 p 21 the strip is pressed by the rolling contact ofthe rollsagainst the web from roll 14 to which it adheresf As soon as the jointpasses clear of therolls 2021, the

43 which is adjacent the exhausting web, thereby depressing thecorresponding knife blade 42 and severing the old web. As the operationsof depressingthe foot pedal and rocking'the knifeemay be made in quicksuccession, the extent to which the two webs overlap is reduced to aminimum and only a small amountof the paper must be removed from themachine and replaced .by a fresh roll 1 which then, of course, becomesthe new reserve roll.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe machine justdescribed ofiers substantial advantages lover V 1 which is operativelyIt will a anything that had been heretofore available to the art in thatthe webs are joined Without the slightest interruption in the movementthereof, the supply rolls remain fixed during the change-over operation,massive construction is not required and the functioning of the machineis virtually foolproof.

Those familiar with the art will readily understand that minormodifications and variations in design and construction may be madewithout departure from the spirit of the invention. For this reason, Ido not choose to be limited to the single specific embodimentillustrated and described but only by the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described my invention, that which is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for continuously supplying a web of sheet materialcomprising a primary supply roll of said material, a pair of feed rollsfor withdrawing the web from said primary supply roll, adjustablesupporting means for one of said feed rolls for accurately positioningsaid roll with respect to the other roll, said supporting meansincluding eccentric means for quickly moving said rolls apart withoutchanging the position of said supporting means, a secondary supply rollof said matenial, means on the leading edge of the material on saidsecondary supply roll to enable said edge to be adhered to the web fromsaid primary supply roll upon contact therewith, normally inoperativefeed means for the web from said secondary supply roll, means forrendering said feed means operative, means for guiding the leading edgeof said material on said secondary supply roll to the nip of said feedrolls, and means for severing the web from said primary supply roll,whereby passage through the nip of said feed rolls causes the web fromsaid secondary supply roll to be spliced to the web from said primaryroll whereupon said latter web may be severed.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said feed means comprises a pairof feed rolls between which the web from said secondary supply roll isadapted to pass, one of said rolls being normally maintained out ofdriving contact with the other of said rolls and means are provided forbringing said rolls into driving contact to exert feeding force on saidweb.

3. The apparatus as in claim 2 wherein said guide means comprises a feedboard for supporting and guiding the leading edge of said secondarysupply web, said board extending substantially from the nip of said lastmentioned pair of feed rolls to the nip of said first-mentioned pair offeed rolls.

4. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said adhering means comprises aleader strip coated with adhesive on the outer surface thereof, saidstrip being adhered to the undersurface of said leading edge for aportion of its length, the remainder of said strip projecting forwardlyof said edge to enable the same to be brought into adhering contact withthe web.

5. Apparatus for continuously supplying a Web of sheet materialcompnising a framework, .a supply role of sheet material at each end ofsaid framework, spaced apart pairs of standards on said frameworkbetween said rolls, a cross-piece extending between the standards ofeach pair above said framework, 21 pair of feed rolls supported on saidcross-pieces intermediate said standards, a feed roll journaled in theupper end of each of said standards above said cross-pieces, an idlerroll associated with said last'named feed roll, being normallymaintained out of contact therewith, means for moving said idler rollinto contact with said feed roll, an inclined feed board extending fromeach of said last-named feed rolls substantially to the nip of said pairof feed rolls, being supported at one end by a standard of each pair andat the other by said crosspieces, web severing means at the end of saidfeed board adjacent said pair of feed rolls, means regulating thetension in said web supported on said framework below said crosspiecesand between said standards, and means for driving at least one of saidpair of feed rolls and each of said other feed rolls.

6. The apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said idler roll moving meanscomprises a foot pedal pivoted in said framework and a link connectingsaid 'foot pedal to said roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS995,587 Cooper June 20, 1911 1,316,708 Goss et al Sept. 23, 19192,214,719 Freeman Sept. 10, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,883 Great Britain of1897

